GLAD challenges Department of Justice's motion to dismiss DOMA lawsuit

The Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders announced earlier this afternoon it has filed motions in a federal court in Boston to challenge the Department of Justice's move to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Attorneys Gary Buseck and Mary Bonauto discussed Gill vs. Office of Personnel Management on an earlier call with journalists.

"While the government has rightly abandoned the reasons Congress relied on in passing DOMA in 1996, it now seeks to dismiss ou case by arguing that DOMA "maintains the status quo," Bonauto said. "The reality is that DOMA itself radically changed the status quo by which the federal government recognized and accepted state determinations of who is married. There is no valid excuse for the federal discrimination imposed by DOMA and this can be resolved now and without a trial.”

GLAD, which filed suit in March, also sought a final decision in the case.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a second complaint in July. And New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler introduced a bill in late September that seeks to repeal the law former President Bill Clinton signed in 1996.

The Department of Justice has until Dec. 4 to respond to GLAD's motion.